Hockey: Northmen, Chiefs hit the regional ice

SAULT STE. MARIE - The Petoskey High School hockey team will faceoff against an old rival once again to begin its postseason.

The Northmen, 8-13-1, will play Cheboygan in a Division III pre-regional contest at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 25 at Pullar Stadium in Sault Ste. Marie.

Monday's winner will then face Sault Ste. Marie, ranked No. 8 in the Division III state coaches poll, in a pre-regional final at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27, at Pullar Stadium.

The pre-regional champion then advances to a Division III regional at the Otsego County Ice Arena in Gaylord against the Big Rapids pre-regional winner on Saturday, March 1.

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The Northmen have split their two regular-season meetings this season with Cheboygan, 11-12-0 and champions of the Northern Michigan Hockey League.

Petoskey won the first meeting, 4-1, in its season opener back in late November at Griffin Arena, while Cheboygan skated to a 5-3 victory earlier this month at the Ralph G. Cantile Arena in Cheboygan.

The Northmen have lost six straight games and have been outscored, 13-2, in their last four contests. Petoskey plays at Alpena today, Friday, in their final Big North Conference and regular season finale.

"We won't look past Alpena and we know anytime you play them, it's going to be a tough game," fifth-year Petoskey coach Rene Chapdelaine said. "We know they're gearing up for the playoffs and we're getting ready for the playoffs as well.

"We did a lot of nice things on Wednesday against Cadillac (2-1 loss). We just need to continue to build on those things we did and take that into Monday's game."

Petoskey's offense has been led by the trio of seniors Jesse Ruggles and Andrew Adams and junior Joe Beck.

Ruggles, Petoskey's leading scorer who missed the last six games because of a shoulder injury, returned on Wednesday and registered an assist against Cadillac.

Defensively, the Northmen are led by freshman Ryan Murray and sophomores Keith Hansen, Hayden Swenor and Charlie Russell.

Senior goaltender Tim Fettig brings plenty of experience between the pipes for the Northmen, while sophomore Michael Pattullo and freshman Joey Gravedoni have also started several contests.

The Chiefs are led by the high-octane duo of senior forwards Brady Lafrinere and Keegan Hartman. Cal VonLinsowe, who had two goals in Cheboygan's 5-3 win over the Northmen in February, is another offensive threat for the Chiefs.

"They have some very talented forwards," Chapdelaine said. "We can't afford to let them operate like they did the last time we played them and we have to stay out of the penalty box.

"If you give a team like that a chance on the power play, they're going to take advantage."

Cheboygan also was the same team that ended Petoskey's season last year in a pre-regional contest in Cheboygan with a convincing 7-1 victory.

"Over the years, we've had some pretty good games in the playoffs, but I don't know what happened there," Chapdelaine said. "We just didn't come ready to play. That won't happen again."